Udrih, Barry, Duncan start — Parker, Ginobili out

Tim Duncan was back in action Monday night against the New Orleans Hornets after sitting out the previous two games — losses to Phoenix and Denver.

Beno Udrih started in place of Tony Parker, who had a thigh bruise. Udrih, a rookie from Slovenia is eighth in the league in 3-pointer percentage (42.7). His is fifth on the team in 3-pointers made with 35.

Udrih is averaging 5.4 points and 1.9 assists per game. He had 11 points and three assists in a March 6 victory over Utah. He played 10 minutes and had five points and two assists in Saturday’s loss to Denver.

Parker scored a season-high 30 points in Wednesday’s road loss to Phoenix, but went scoreless in the fourth quarter. He also had five assists with no turnovers in 30 minutes. He had 25 points and four assists in 37 minutes in Saturday’s loss to Denver.

Manu Ginobili continues to sit with a variety of injuries including a groin strain. Brent Barry started in place of Ginobili.

Barry is averaging 6.6 points this season, but was averaging 3.6 points over the last five games before scoring nine against Denver on Saturday. Barry, who has made 1,061 3-pointers in his career, has hit 71 in 62 games this season. He has made just 5 of 27 over the last eight games.

Parker is 14th in the league in assists per game (6.2). He is also averaging a career-high 16.7 points. Parker was 0 for 17 from 3-point range over the last nine games.